offtopic » The Seattle Seahawks got funky last Monday.

Ken Norton Jr. stunted hard Marshawn Lynch Color Rush Jersey , unleashing wild, looping blitzes. His defense looked like Kris Richard’s Seahawks with 3-down linemen looks. On the back end, the coverage was also a complete change up. Seattle predominantly ran two-high safety pass defenses that turned into either match quarters, cover-2 man or bracket man. Single-high, cover-3 and cover-1? This was only witnessed against heavier personnel and formations.Here’s what Kirk Cousins (probably) said at half time:Yes, in addition to the Seahawks’ distractingly lurid ACTION green uniforms, their defensive scheme was also deceiving. The result was a rattled, confused $84M quarterback who double-clutched and missed throws. Norton Jr.’s gameplan was completely different to what the Minnesota Vikings would have prepared for in the days leading up to their 21-7 defeat. The now fired John DeFilippo struggled to figure out ways to move the football. Seattle popped off the screen in more ways than one on Monday Night Football. What this article will cover is the bracket/bandit coverages. In Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs, the Vikings have the deadliest receiving duo in the league. The Seahawks limited them to 76 and 70 receiving yards respectively. Zero touchdowns. That’s not bad at all, especially when you factor in garbage time production.In the first quarter, Seattle befuddled Minnesota’s opening script and didn’t allow a single Thielen or Diggs reception. Let’s get to their second drive of the game.Bracket/Bandit #1The Vikings came out in an 11 personnel (1 running back, 1 tight end and 3 wide receivers), empty shotgun set featuring two wingbacks. They were lied to pre-snap by the Seahawks’ 3-1-7 big seven defensive back (bandit personnel) defense on this 3rd and 12.It looked like a cover-2 man press defense. Instead, Seattle rushed just two of their players. Jacob Martin, lined up at left end, dropped as his green dog assignment required him to stop his rush and cover the releasing man one-on-one.Meanwhile, in the deep secondary, Delano Hill bracketed Thielen over the top. The coverage saw Griffin and Hill double cover Thielen. The other safety, Tedric Thompson, was assigned Diggs deep. Diggs had to contend with the man coverage of Justin Coleman Earl Thomas III Color Rush Jersey , walling from the initially sugared Akeem King and Thompson: triple coverage. Cousins first looked at Diggs, expecting the middle of the field to be open. He quickly progressed, given the safety movement and immediate two-man plastering. His second read was Thielen’s in-breaking deep route outside. The underneath and over the top layers smothered Thielen, making this even less preferable of a throw.Checking that Martin had dropped with the flat route checkdown, Cousins panned to the other side of the field and the checkdown of Dalvin Cook in the flat. Bobby Wagner, in man coverage over the running back, dropped him for a loss. (The refs made a very strange call on Wagner here, but the coverage still worked beautifully.)Bracket/Bandit #2The bizarre flag on Wagner kept Minnesota’s drive alive, only for them to stall in similar fashion on the next third down—a 3rd and 12. The Vikings plumped for an 11 personnel shotgun trips formation; the Seahawks once more responded with a 3-1-7 big bandit (7 DBs).The assignments were similar, as was the result. King walled Diggs’ skinny post route, along with the man-to-man press coverage of Griffin and the bracketing of Hill. On the opposite side of the field, the isolated Thielen had Thompson work his way over the top to double cover him above Tre Flowers. It was this safety movement that Cousins first observed. Correctly choosing to move to his next read, Cousins again saw a triple-covered Diggs. He went for the one-on-one the defense produced. Coleman worked well on Aldrick Robinson’s wickedly angled vertical route, staying easily in phase with the receiver.Up front, Jarran Reed managed to command a double-team (benefited by pre-snap sugaring) that saw Martin get a one-on-one with right tackle Brian O’Neill. Beating him for speed to the corner, Martin dipped through and registered a hit on Cousins. Hurried, Cousins’ pass fell nowhere near the intended receiver and Coleman’s sound coverage. Change-Up Seattle’s ability to adapt to their opponent is a massively underrated aspect to Pete Carroll’s genius as a defensive coach. Undoubtedly, Norton Jr. had influence on the scheme too. The Seahawks’ near-perfect execution had Cousins reeling: they went to match-quarters stuff for the rest of the game and it was similarly effective.Said Cousins:The proactive measures neutered the Vikings’ offense of any tangible threat. It was deadly, like Nolan Ryan’s circle change-up after a ton of scorching fastballs. Minnesota was left looking silly.Bobby Wagner reflected on the Bandit coverage post-game:Here’s what Carroll thought of the schematic tweak: With a playoff run now nearly certain, it’s comforting to know that Seattle has ways of taking lethal receivers out of games. Cousins was persistently forced to his tertiary read and he looked shell-shocked in the big moments. A stifling defense that imposes that level of psychological stress on a quarterback is something that screams SEAHAWKS IN DECEMBER. The astonishing part is we can think that about this rebuilding iteration of Carroll’s Seattle. I’m in! Six teams — including all of the AFC East — are off this week. But besides the Patriots Chris Carson Color Rush Jersey , no other team has essential fantasy starters to replace.San Francisco’s break forces you to fill in for running back Matt Breida and tight end George Kittle. Cleveland’s only regular fantasy starters are Nick Chubb and Jarvis Landry. Still, you must deftly navigate the waiver wire for potential playoff contributors, especially with trade deadlines about to pass in most leagues.RUNNING BACKSJAYLEN SAMUELS, Steelers (Owned in 0.2 percent of leagues): Le’Veon Bell is no longer relevant in Pittsburgh, so now is the time to grab James Conner’s handcuff. When Conner left last week’s game against the Panthers, Samuels scored his first NFL touchdown. This is the time of year to start cutting players from your bench that you will never comfortably start and roster the immediate backups of your best RBs.THEO RIDDICK, Lions (19.5): He has started to re-emerge since the Lions traded Golden Tate, working in the slot and replacing the departed WR as a key target to move the chains. Riddick is purely an add in point-per-reception leagues, but a viable one. The upside is not high, but with 13 catches for 96 yards in his last two games, there is an adequate floor for your flex spot.RASHAAD PENNY, Seahawks (13.1): The rookie delivered his best performance to date in Week 10, rushing for 108 yards on a dozen carries and registering his first NFL scoring run. Penny displayed the explosive abilities that made him a first round pick. But you have to be patient with him, as Chris Carson may return to the mix and Mike Davis is the team’s best receiver at RB. Penny may ride your bench in the near future as part of a committee, but Carson is oft-injured and Penny may eventually ascend because he is the most talented RB of the three.WIDE RECEIVERSANTHONY MILLER, Bears (13.4): Another potentially explosive rookie, Miller is healthy and starting to make his presence felt in the rapidly improving Chicago offense. He came through with his best performance so far in Week 10, catching five passes for 122 yards and a TD. Miller has scored twice in his last three games and three in his last five. He has yet to display a wider range of his big-play skills, and he may soon approach fantasy WR3 status.DONTE MONCRIEF, Jaguars (15.1); Fantasy owners seem to avoid Jacksonville WRs as a rule George Fant Color Rush Jersey , but Moncrief has at least performed respectably enough to make him a quality bye week and injury fill-in. In a dire situation, if you have to start Moncrief, he will provide good enough PPR numbers. He has four double-figure PPR performances in his past six games, and two of those have been 20-point outings.JOSH REYNOLDS, Rams (1.1): Cooper Kupp is done for the year with a knee injury, so you have to take a cautious flier on Reynolds again, who was mediocre in terms of catches and yardage last time Kupp was out but did deliver a two-TD game in Week 8. Reynolds will be fourth, and maybe even fifth in targets for the Rams now, but you have to take a waiver shot on a player with more possible opportunity in a great offense.TIGHT ENDSJONNU SMITH, Titans (0.6): Marcus Mariota has started to raise his game recently, and Smith has been involved enough to make savvy fantasy owners raise an eyebrow. Smith has scored in each of his past two games and has the abilities to start contributing more often on key passing downs.GERALD EVERETT, Rams (1.4): The Los Angeles tight ends could also benefit from the absence of Kupp. Everett scored in Week 10 and along with Tyler Higbee, could start to get more offensive attention from Jared Goff in the weeks ahead.NICK VANNETT, Seahawks (9.5): He has scored in two consecutive games, as he is getting more attention from Russell Wilson in red zone situations. He’s not much more than a TE2 in fantasy but can certainly fill in on a bye week.QUARTERBACKLAMAR JACKSON, Ravens (6.7): Injury issues and mediocre play appear to be putting Joe Flacco on the hot seat. While Robert Griffin III could get a chance to move in first, Jackson should get his chance if the Ravens get booted out of the playoff race soon, and his dual threat abilities will make him an intriguing fantasy option.